quarta-feira, 7 de julho de 2010

Basset Pommer, a Renaissance instrument in Rio de Janeiro/Brazil!

The Basset Pommer is a very rare instrument from the renaissance. It is considered the "father" of the bassoon.
This particular one is a replica from a renaissance Basset Pommer from about 1650.
This is probably the only Basset Pommer found in Brazil.

The instrument belongs to the multi-instrumentalist Eduardo Antonello , also a graduade student of harpsichord, who bought it through EBay , without any staple (or bocal, if you prefer, since it is rather long).
The present staple was made by Leonardo Fuks, in carbon/kevlar fiber composite, departing from an English Horn one, and making the appropriate adjustments to reach the desired pitch of A 440 Hz, with a conventional modern basson reed.
According to the Grove´s New Dictionary of Music and Musicians

Pommer is the German name for the alto, tenor and bass Shawm (the treble being known as the Schalmei). The term is an alteration of Bombarde (the general 15th-century name for the alto shawm), through Bomhart, Pumhart and Pommert, all of which are found in 16th-century German writings. The form Pommer occurs in Praetorius’s Syntagma musicum, ii (2/1619) and is much used by modern German writers and museum curators.